Chaggallytepe Archaeological Monuments Complex

Chaggallytepe monument complex is a monument consisting of five natural hills located in the territory of Aygünlü village, Shabran district, on the left side of the Baku‑Quba highway. The monument complex belongs to the Early Bronze Age. The I Chaggallytepe monument, which is part of the complex, suffered severe destruction while the Samur‑Devechi water canal was being dug. At that time, a small excavation by C. Xəlilov was carried out on the part of the monument that remained on the left bank. Since 2016, large‑scale excavations have been carried out under the leadership of S. Aşurov in the monument complex. Extensive research has been conducted at the I and II Chaggallytepe settlement sites, and test pits have been placed at the III and IV Chaggallytepe monuments. The archaeological materials obtained from each settlement form an analogy with each other. During the archaeological excavations, a large number of ceramic vessels, bone and stone tools reflecting the characteristics of the Early Bronze Age “Kür‑Araz” culture were discovered at the settlement sites. Radiocarbon analyses have shown that habitation at the monument covered the years 2886–2476 BC.

Construction features

In the monuments studied in the north‑eastern regions of Azerbaijan, especially the Chaggallytepe monuments in the Shabran district, the architectural features attract attention with their diversity. Thus, during investigations at the ancient settlement of Chaggallytepe, circular houses built using light wooden frameworks, circular houses with one or two rows of raw‑brick foundations and superstructures erected on posts, circular houses based on a mixed architectural style of river stones and mud‑brick, as well as semi‑subterranean and fully excavated houses have been encountered. Archaeological excavations at the I Chaggallytepe settlement have revealed that, in addition to semi‑subterranean and mud‑brick houses, there were also houses whose walls were built of raw brick.

In the upper layers of the settlement, mainly semi-dug and dug type structures are encountered. The roofs of these types of houses are completed by thatching between wooden poles and plastering their surfaces. The cleaned pits around and inside the dug and semi-dug houses usually indicate that they have a light wooden construction. The houses of this type found in the monument have a circular plan.

The most interesting building remains of the monument are the dug houses with a wide-diameter, conical roof. This type of construction is characteristic of a local variant of the Kura-Araxes culture covering the northeastern districts of Azerbaijan and the territory of Dagestan. These houses attract attention by the breadth of their diameters. However, there is no definite opinion about their exact shape, entrance and function. At I Chaggallytepe, several cleaned structures of this form allow some hypotheses to be advanced. In the southern part of the settlement, four dug structures at different levels have been cleaned. Of them, the relatively upper one has one side formed by a single layer of 4 rows of raw bricks. The bricks are 9 cm thick, 37 cm long and 20 cm wide. The 4 rows of bricks together measure 40 cm. Both the walls and the floors of these types of houses are plastered with a clay‑mortar layer. The diameters of these dug houses are approximately 2.40 m, 2.50 m and 3 m.

In the north‑west part of the hill, a fully preserved example of this type of pit house has been discovered. While cleaning the interior of the house, as in other pit houses, numerous large stones and raw brick remains at approximately the same level were cleared from the upper layers. The width of one of the scattered bricks is about 22.5 cm. The brick composition, mixed with straw and plant remains, was cut using a special mold. The wall of the circular pit house narrows slightly upward. In some sections this narrowing is not perceptible. The diameter on the house floor is 320 cm, and the height of the intact part is 160 cm. The walls and floor of the house are well waterproofed. On the floor of the house, four post pits have been dug at almost equal distances, two to the north and two to the south. Their diameters are 40‑45 cm and their depths range from 45‑50 cm. To the north‑east of the south‑east post pit, another pit with a diameter of 38 cm and a depth of 42 cm was cleared. It is very likely that this pit is the location of an auxiliary post. Or, stairs were made between the two posts in this area to provide entrance to the house. Vertical traces of posts remain along the wall on the south side.

Brick-built structures in the I Chaggallytepe settlement rank second after pits and semi-pits, only two of them are rectangular, the rest are circular. In the circular plan, the walls of one house built of raw brick are made of raw brick. For the construction of the house a trench was dug and then the walls were built with a row of bricks. On the north‑east side a row of 19 bricks in the wall remains intact. In this part the height is 184 cm. The length of the bricks varies between 38‑44 cm, their thickness is 12 cm. The fact that almost all bricks have the same size shows that they were cut in a special mould. In the south‑east wall of the house 12 rows of raw brick remain intact; the house is 125 cm high. The diameter of the house on the floor is 245 cm, its floor is well plastered. The bricks of another circular‑plan house whose wall is made of raw brick measure 30×40, 30×33 cm. On the wall three posts with diameters of 12 cm (two) and 15 cm (one) were cleared. From the west wall of the house, inside, another wall runs, 217.5 cm long and attached to the house wall. It was probably used as a screen.

In the I Chaggallytepe settlement there are also a few structures with plastered walls. One of these circular structures discovered at the site is largely eroded, and only the inner shape of its wall can be discerned. Its diameter is approximately 3 m. The floor of the house was plastered with a thick clay mortar. It appears that when the floor became unusable it was repaired. This fact also indicates long‑term habitation in such houses.